Public News Service publicnewsservice.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publicnewsservice.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Special state funding for mental health staff at Michigan public schools during the pandemic is ending this year, leaving schools scrambling to find ways to keep the professionals in the building. The $240-million grant started in 2021, as students coped with challenges, from virtual learning and canceled sports to losing a loved one to COVID. Now, districts are seeking alternatives. .
New maps show the extent of New York State s lead pipe replacement program. They demonstrate progress in replacing lead service lines, although the state still has an estimated 494,000 of them. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded the state of New York more than $300 million over the last three years for the work but only $104 million has been awarded to municipalities. .
As opponents to the Bureau of Land Management s new rules push back, public lands advocates are praising the agency s decision to put conservation on par with other uses, such as oil and gas extraction and development. In Arizona, the BLM manages just over 12 million acres of public land. Daniel Hart, director of clean energy and climate policy with the National Parks Conservation Association, said the state s 22 national parks share boundaries with those public lands and considers them an interconnected landscape. .
South Dakota s June 4 primary will be the first national election here since ballot dropboxes were banned in 2023. It is one of 12 states to ban using dropboxes to cast votes, although no state election offices using the boxes in 2020 found a connection to voter fraud or stolen ballots, according to an Associated Press survey. The change is more likely to impact rural and tribal voters, who already face barriers to voting. .